Main Nav Menu

The Fall of Blockbuster

The Video Rental Industry was a six billion dollar industry. It was created in 1978 by Video Station in Los Angeles, California. Like other advancing industries, Mom and Pop video rental stores gave way to major chains, such as Major Video Corporation, Palmer Video, and Blockbuster. These chains boasted gigantic tape selection, sometimes in the tens of thousands. The independent stores could only stock one to two thousand copies on the shelves. Blockbuster could afford to charge less and have more copies of the hits. As of 1988 the company brought in $70,000 monthly and 26% of that was profit. The New York Times claimed that it was “bent on becoming the McDonald’s of video stores”. It was reported that the company was so strong that it feared antitrust law when it attempted to buy Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, back in 2004-2005. The company was so big that it was almost considered a monopoly, and the consumer’s protection needed to be considered. In the end, these fears were never realized. The company declared bankruptcy and collapsed. So how did this giant monopoly-like corporation go from 9,000 locations to less than 300? Disruption.

Disruption is the displacement of established technology which, often times, creates a new industry. Blockbuster and the entire video rental industry became one of the biggest victims of disruption in the past two decades. In the beginning, with its unique rental policy, the company solved the problem of rental VHS theft and led the industry for years. Viacom bought Blockbuster for $8.4 billion dollars in 1994, the equivalent of $24.26 billion dollars in 2015, and then Blockbuster successfully goes public in 1999, raising over $465 million in its IPO.

Two years earlier, entrepreneur Reed Hastings, is frustrated after getting fined $40 in late fees. This became part of the inspiration in his next decision, the founding of Netflix. As Blockbuster was making over $700 million in late fees in 2000, Netflix had just started mailing out DVD’s to customers. Of all the mistakes the video rental store made, the biggest was declining to purchase Netflix. Multiple offers were made in 2000, but Blockbuster declined to pay $50 million for the upstart. Netflix, not discouraged, would go public in 2002 and continue to be a creative force.

The creative destruction was no longer on the side of the Blockbuster, and the company had to play catch up. There were several attempts by the video rental store to react to Netflix’s newfound success. In an attempt to compete with Netflix, the company launched its own DVD mailing service in 2004. Netflix would sue for patent infringement, forcing Blockbuster to pay $4.1 million. To make the company look more attractive, Blockbuster began to give a week grace period for rentals in 2005. This led to a flatter operating income for the year, and so to compensate the company decreased its marketing budget. The company would create its own streaming service, Blockbuster on Demand, and one-dollar DVD rental machines to compete with Redbox, but it was too little too late. The company was de-listed from the stock exchange in 2010 and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. DISH Network purchased the company in 2011 and closed the last of the distribution centers.

The problem was that Netflix disrupted the industry. As technology advanced, that company led the charge towards customer-oriented, convenience oriented movie renting. As this history shows, the company kept trying to fight the tide, but not on their own terms. Blockbuster went from the greatest to gone in less than a decade, peaking in power in the mid 2000’s and then bankrupt by 2011. So what can be learned from the Blockbuster story? Never settle. Innovation is always around the corner and one company policy can give away to a whole new set of consumer demands. Netflix now carries the torch in the media world. While Blockbuster was falling, Netflix would continue to disrupt the industry. The next post will discuss the rise of streaming further, elaborating on how streaming services established their footing in the industry and how disruption persisted.

18 Responses to The Fall of Blockbuster

Seeing an industry change so drastically and so quickly is something I find very interesting. I read another blog on this site about the changes we have seen in cellphones and it is not so different from blockbusters famous fall. Blockbuster was a staple of mine growing up. It was the Friday or Saturday night thing to do- go to blockbuster, spend an hour arguing with your siblings about which movie to get, then start popping the popcorn. Everyday I constantly try to think about ways to change certain industries and be the one to ignite and benefit of such massive changes in consumer life.

You mentioned at the end how innovation is so important and I couldn’t agree more. One thing however that I would also urge companies like Netflix or Twitter and Instagram to do would be to also think about mergers or being acquired. Nothing is wrong with selling out if that means a massive pay day in my opinion. Now I’m not saying Twitter should go sell itself today to Google or Amazon but one quality of good leadership is solid and decisive decision making and whoever is in charge down the road may need to consider getting out of the business. Every major advancement we’ve had in technology or travel or manufacturing that we thought would be around forever has eventually met its match and become obsolete. One person that comes to mind who took advantage of this was Mark Cuban. I’m pretty sure he’s doing alright today.

I think Netflix needs to look to the future and innovate like you mentioned. Production companies may soon overlook Netflix and go straight to cable providers or companies like Sony and Microsoft who control gaming consoles. Netflix is essential a middleman except they have started creating their own original content. It’s important to remember the middleman is usually the first to go.

This article by Brian Kane is extremely impressive, especially how he was able to make his own YouTube video. The article brought back a bit of nostalgia from me, as there was a blockbuster around the block from my house in my childhood, which has since then become a Salvation Army store. Blockbuster was a genius idea at first, however, as Brian said, its revenue-gathering strategy would lead to its demise. The late fees that Blockbuster charged were outrageous, and through-out time it was obvious that some one was going to be fed up with it. I found it fascinating, however, to learn that Blockbuster declined to purchase Netflix several times. Back then, Blockbuster did not see a potential threat, and look at them now. It is crazy to think of how one decision can literally revolutionize the next generation of movies on demand. For example, what if Blockbuster bought out Netflix, and went on a different path and never had online movies and TV shows. Obviously now we have examples such as Hulu, and Amazon video, but those all came from Netflix’s main idea.

I also agree with Patrick when he says that innovation is important and that big companies now must decide whether it is in their best interest to merge or to sell itself to a bigger competitor. We saw MySpace explode, and because of innovation, we saw Facebook completely wipe MySpace out of the map. Next came Twitter, Instagram, and other social media websites, and in my opinion, they wont last for very long. Obviously, someone out there is working on the next big thing and as soon as it comes out, it will not take very long for the current social media websites to become useless. We live in a highly technological age where anyone anywhere can create their own idea of a social media website if they have the correct tools so obviously I think it is simply a matter of time.

I have a friend who works at Sony, and he did say that Sony were looking to launch their own type of movie streaming technology. With the introduction of various devices such as Amazon Firestick, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast, it is a highly competitive market where any new entries are surely to be bought out by these contenders. I would be content with selling off my innovation and continuing to live my life with my earnings because as seen in the past, the next big thing is only big for so long.

Blockbuster used to be a house hold name. It was a place where people could watch the newest movies without paying the full price to purchase them. In 2015 mention the name Blockbuster and see the reaction you get, most people will say “oh yea I remember them”. The reason for that is because Blockbuster like the stock market was “too big to fail”. Blockbuster was so big that when they attempted to buy Hollywood studious they were worried “that it was almost considered a monopoly, and that consumer’s protection needed to be considered” as stated by Mr. Kane. Brian Kane’s article “The fall of Blockbuster” takes an in-depth look at Blockbusters demise. At the time that Blockbuster acquired Hollywood studios, Blockbuster had a 36 percent market share and Hollywood studious owned an 11.9 percent share of the market. I believe that anti-trust laws should have brought in because that meant that Blockbuster would own just under 50 percent of the market which would force the 30 percent mom and pop shops to close and eventually lead to Blockbuster owning even more of the market. Blockbuster owning so much of the market allowed them to be more competitive than most with their ability to rent movies and to have a more extensive inventory of movies to choose form. He talks about how Blockbuster got so big that they were clearing more than 10,000 dollars a month in pure profit. Most of this profit according to MR. Kane was revenue from late fees. What Blockbuster did not know was that their late fees would be their demise. After “entrepreneur Reed Hastings … got fined $40 in late fees” he decided he was going to start up his own movie rental company. From that the new household name Netflix was created. As stated by Mr. Kane Blockbuster had the ability to buy Netflix but turned down the offer and decided to institute their own mailing service. I believed that Netflix was correct in suing Blockbuster. Blockbuster saw that Netflix had a great idea and that it was stealing their business, but since Netflix had a copyright on this, it meant Blockbuster would be infringing on the copyright and legal action was definitely required. Netflix received 4.1 million dollars in that lawsuit which I’m sure helped them to become the giant they now are. Netflix took most of this money they won and put it into the infrastructure of the company and helped to develop the website and the wide variety of movies they can offer.
This article “The Fall of Blockbuster” brought up some very good points as to why Blockbuster failed. This article showed that Netflix was the real demise of Blockbuster. When Blockbuster turned down the offer to buy Netflix and then created its own DVD rental service, they took a turn for the worst. The only thing I would have added to this article is more about the issue of anti-trust laws with Hollywood Studios. Otherwise it was a well written article with a lot of good research and ideas.

The rise and fall of Blockbuster is by far one of the staples that every corporation that should institute into their business plan and strategic choices in this type of economy. We have seen corporations such as Amazon threaten almost every major retail enterprise throughout the world, many average mom and pop retailers are now no longer instilled and the major retailers have been stripped to competitors such as Wal-Mart and Target for your broad range consumer staples and discretionary products. In the case of Blockbuster, a company once scrutinized for growing too fast and almost having implications of a monopoly rose to the top and back down faster than any corporation in the 21st century. In 2000, a corporation called Netflix hit the market offering no late fees and direct mailed DVD’s and CD’s to its customers. This quickly resulted in Blockbuster initiated the same type of strategy to compete with the new start up on the block. The one thing Blockbuster did not know was behind the scenes, Netflix was innovative and saw the upcoming wave of the move of technology through the internet and direct streaming to customers. In 2002, Blockbuster declined to pay $50M to buy out Netflix. The result? Netflix today is a $46B corporation with market reach across the entire globe and Blockbuster is just a figment of a modern generation’s imagination. This lesson is one that corporations should never forget in modern days, as these enterprises grow they sometimes watch technology pass them by and end up snatching market share by the day. We are seeing a similar trend occur in the financial management segment, where consumers now have smart technology to manage your investments based on your retirement goals and criteria. The goal? To eliminate the middle man of financial advisory. These online start-ups offer the same market returns with ¼ of the fees that normal provider’s institute. After these companies, Wealthfront and Betterment emerged it took over 2 years for even smaller financial technology corporations such as Scottrade to follow up with a response. Through consumer reviews it is clear that the sentiment favors the startups in comparison to the old technological movers in the industry. We might see the same forecast that happened to Blockbuster occur to corporations such as E-Trade, Scottrade, Fidelity and other major online investment managers that offer fees that are significantly higher than these new innovators and lack the technological capabilities that modern consumers are moving towards. The Netflix story is a compelling one, but the trend they created is one that we shall see occur many times over the course of the next century.

First and foremost, I really enjoyed Brian Kane’s writing and structure of his post. It was vivid and clear and to the point, which allowed me to comprehend the message he was attempting to convey. Although I knew about the fall of physical stores for movie rentals and the rise of online streaming had been occurring for years, I did not know too much more in depth. I think Mr. Kane did an excellent job and explaining the catalyst behind this occurrence: disruption. He spoke about “the displacement of established technology which, often times, create a new industry”, which was clearly about Netflix.

He made some interesting points that I found quite baffling if you ask me. First, NY Times claimed that Blockbuster was “bent on becoming the McDonald’ of video stores”… Those are some major expectations. People do not comprehend just how big McDonald’s is. McDonald’s does not just have control of the fast food market share; it is one of the biggest real estate companies in the world. They even own the land of somewhere of their franchisees, who in turn rent the land from McDonald’s. In order for Blockbuster to reach those goals, they would have to possess the capital in order to buy the physical properties to put their stores on. This is hard considering that McDonald’s has primetime locations in major cities also where the prices are scorching high like Manhattan for example. This brings me to my next point: physical stores. The one time major corporation had 9,000 locations. I just cannot believe how it dwindled down to just 300 in just a matter of a decade. In addition, to this, Kane’s point that Blockbuster was once bought for $8.4 billion in 1994 (equivalent to $24.26 billion now) is absurd. The last thing I found bewildering was that Blockbuster had a chance to acquire Netflix. That one small decision proved to be a vital mistake in the fall of the one of time major coporation.

Netflix completely annihilated the video rental industry all because of innovation. With that being said, Mr. Kane’s point of innovation reminds me of something my professor told our class. If a company does not adapt to changes or innovation, they will be left behind. There is no way around adapting to innovation. The Blockbuster/Netflix relationship is the epitome of this point. This applies to people who do not adapt to social changes as well. With the social media we have today, anything could come in the public spotlight. If a company does something wrong social or ethically, it could be crushed.

I really, really enjoyed this blog post by Mr. Kane and would like to applaud him. The video was impressive, the writing was clear, and information was essential.

First and foremost, I really enjoyed Brian Kane’s writing and structure of his post. It was vivid and clear and to the point, which allowed me to comprehend the message he was attempting to convey. Although I knew about the fall of physical stores for movie rentals and the rise of online streaming had been occurring for years, I did not know too much more in depth. I think Mr. Kane did an excellent job and explaining the catalyst behind this occurrence: disruption. He spoke about “the displacement of established technology which, often times, create a new industry”, which was clearly about Netflix.

He made some interesting points that I found quite baffling if you ask me. First, NY Times claimed that Blockbuster was “bent on becoming the McDonald’ of video stores”… Those are some major expectations. People do not comprehend just how big McDonald’s is. McDonald’s does not just have control of the fast food market share; it is one of the biggest real estate companies in the world. They even own the land of somewhere of their franchisees, who in turn rent the land from McDonald’s. In order for Blockbuster to reach those goals, they would have to possess the capital in order to buy the physical properties to put their stores on. This is hard considering that McDonald’s has primetime locations in major cities also where the prices are scorching high like Manhattan for example. This brings me to my next point: physical stores. The one time major corporation had 9,000 locations. I just cannot believe how it dwindled down to just 300 in just a matter of a decade. In addition, to this, Kane’s point that Blockbuster was once bought for $8.4 billion in 1994 (equivalent to $24.26 billion now) is absurd. The last thing I found bewildering was that Blockbuster had a chance to acquire Netflix. That one small decision proved to be a vital mistake in the fall of the one of time major coporation.

Netflix completely annihilated the video rental industry all because of innovation. With that being said, Mr. Kane’s point of innovation reminds me of something my professor told our class. If a company does not adapt to changes or innovation, they will be left behind. There is no way around adapting to innovation. The Blockbuster/Netflix relationship is the epitome of this point. This applies to people who do not adapt to social changes as well. With the social media we have today, anything could come in the public spotlight. If a company does something wrong social or ethically, it could be crushed.

I really, really enjoyed this blog post by Mr. Kane and would like to applaud him. The video was impressive, the writing was clear, and information was essential. I’m looking forward to read future blog posts by you.

Blockbuster was the leader in video rental, and it was a staple in my childhood going to the nearest Blockbuster to pick out a movie for the night but the industry quickly changed as technology advanced and Blockbuster came to its demise with the start of Netflix. Netflix saw an opportunity in the industry and took its chance. This is a perfect display on the business world, Netflix’s innovation is how to get ahead in the business, always look for the next big thing. I firmly agree with the statement that the biggest mistake of Blockbuster was declining the purchase of Netflix, but if Blockbuster did buy Netflix would it rise to be declared and tried as a monopoly? Did blockbuster decline the deal due to this fact or that they did not want to pay the startup fee? After Blockbuster realized their mistake and attempted to copy the mailing services as Netflix had set up I believe that is what truly sent them down the hole. Netflix took the opportunity to protect their work and by doing so they took control. Once a company has to play catch up it is very hard to get back as the leader of the industry.
The problem with video rental stores overall was that they did not take into consideration how quickly technology would advance. From video cassette which held standing for years to DVD almost overnight what could a company who rented video cassettes do when DVDs took control of the movie industry? The Video Rental companies sold the all the video cassettes they could when they realized they were going out of business and took account for their losses. I even remember when the Blockbuster and town video rental were going out of business, they were selling the video cassettes for $1 to $5. At that point almost every family had a DVD player in their living room instead of a video cassette tape player.
DVDs changed the video industry because there was not more concern to have to “rewind” the tape, or if the tape strip inside the video cassette became messed up, knotted, or stretched the video cassette no longer worked. While a DVD being more durable and efficient it brought light to the advances in the movie industry. Technology furthered advanced and still furthers to advance as now Netflix can stream movies to any portable smartphone, tablet or pc at any time. No longer do we have to wait for the movie to be mailed to and from but now a simple click of the button and late fees no longer exist. Instead they have created membership fees and from their start in 2002 at $150.8 million in revenue to $5,504.66 million in revenue in 2014! (Statistics obtained from here).

The fall of blockbuster can be traced to the rise of the streaming service. There is also a correlation in the technological advancements as of recent. Blockbuster used to be the leading brand in video rentals. Now that the streaming services are offering the same service as blockbuster except digitally it is understandable to conceive that they fell out of the competition. Why go to a store and rent a movie or TV show, when you have the same access on your computer, tablet, gaming system, and TV. As streaming services have disrupted cable TV it has also disrupted video rental stores. Blockbuster had a chance to buyout Netflix but refused to do so. After Netflix started to garner popularity it was too late for Blockbuster to catch up.
Netflix’s innovation has ushered in a new era that are known as “binging”. Netflix needs to continue to make advancements in their services as other companies are following suit. Hulu and Amazon Prime are a few that are making the necessary moves to stay competitive in the market, offering the same services as Netflix while also adding new things. For example, Hulu is known for being able to stream shows that are currently airing on television. Although there is a layoff on the property you do not have to wait for a new season of your favorite television show for the previous season to be uploaded like Netflix. As Kevin George stated in his comment, “if a company does not adapt to changes or innovation, they will be left behind”. Cable providers are starting to adapt to the rise of streaming services. Comcast is launching their own streaming service based of the channels they provide to expand their property. Premium channels like HBO and Starz are also launching their own streaming services that offer exclusive content that cannot be obtained by a Netflix or a Hulu such as Game of Thrones and True Blood. It is evident that they are adapting to the new services being created and because of this they will stay relevant.

Seeing an industry change so drastically and so quickly is something I find very interesting. After watching the video about how Blockbuster was such a giant business until Netflix came in and out did Blockbuster. Blockbuster at one time was like Netflix of today however, the business made most of its revenue in late fees. For me every Friday or Saturday we would go to blockbuster, spend an hour arguing with my brothers about which movie to get, then watch the movie. It’s funny how a man they used to work at blockbuster would be responsible in the down fall of blockbuster.
It’s interesting to see a company like blockbuster who had ruled the renting movie business in from 1985 to 2000 they were on top and then 10 years later are out of business. So what went wrong, well the problem was Netflix. Netflix when they came to be the company today was better then what Blockbuster was. Netflix at first did what Blockbuster did was mail movies to their customers then after they beat Blockbuster they started to stream movies over the internet or website where you can watch movies and TV over there website. Which is amazing, the reason blockbuster went out of business because they didn’t want to change with the times and innovate to what Netflix did when they did it first.

Streaming giants like Netflix are taking over the movie industry and overhauling it. This overhaul has been long overdue as we live in an era of digital content that is most often times streamed. DVDs have become obsolete, though sometimes I purchase one as a memory or to serve as a memento of the time period. Netflix seems to take people on a journey and gives them free reign over what they want to watch and where they want to watch it. Netflix also recommends new and different types of content based on the consumer’s common preferences and the library of content it has. All of this for a nominal monthly fee of around $10. To some this is an annoying and expensive monthly bill for a service that is pointless but to others it is the life blood of their entertainment world. I believe that that one’s opinion of the monthly fee for Netflix is mostly based on the how much they use the service. For an individual who is a Netflix power user, using it to binge on content on a daily basis and sometimes for prolonged periods, the monthly fee would be seen as very cheap or next to nothing. On the other hand, for an individual who rarely watches movies or the content offered then the monthly price will be seen as obnoxiously expensive. The old business model for this industry was to sell/rent physical DVDs and cassettes. These often cost the manufacturer cents to make yet sold for around $12 to $13 a copy. These DVDs also limited the free reign people could have over their experience. Often times in the past I have seen individuals spends many hours looking for the right movie to watch or to find a boxset for a TV show. This is very inefficient, costly and restrictive in the sense that it did not really allow the individual to create a library of content that they loved very easily. However, services like Netflix and Amazon Prime video allow us to do this and at a very nominal price. I am not afraid to say it that if we did not have services like Netflix I would have to resort to pirating my video content because creating a library from buying DVDs is just inefficient and too expensive. This is the biggest reason why Blockbuster failed. It is because people moved on as technology moved forward but it did not and filed for bankruptcy in 2010. I feel that Blockbuster was just a little piece of the “Netflix revolution” that is shaking up the video industry to its core. In the future, we will see a day where Hollywood will directly release its movies onto a paid streaming service rather than show them in theatres and then the theatre business will also be in jeopardy just like Blockbuster and the video rental industry.

not that streaming become the main thing for people when it comes to watching movies, blockbuster and Hollywood movies and done and out of business.”The Video Rental Industry was a six billion dollar industry. It was created in 1978 by Video Station in Los Angeles, California. Like other advancing industries, Mom and Pop video rental stores gave way to major chains, such as Major Video Corporation, Palmer Video, and Blockbuster. These chains boasted gigantic tape selection, sometimes in the tens of thousands. The independent stores could only stock one to two thousand copies on the shelves. Blockbuster could afford to charge less and have more copies of the hits. As of 1988 the company brought in $70,000 monthly and 26% of that was profit. The New York Times claimed that it was “bent on becoming the McDonald’s of video stores”. It was reported that the company was so strong that it feared antitrust law when it attempted to buy Hollywood Entertainment Corporation, back in 2004-2005. The company was so big that it was almost considered a monopoly, and the consumer’s protection needed to be considered. In the end, these fears were never realized. The company declared bankruptcy and collapsed. So how did it his giant monopoly-like corporation go from 9,000 locations to less than 300? Disruption.” Kane, Brian. “The Fall of Blockbuster.” DTL Blog. Shannonweb, 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015. .

After looking through almost all of the posts I stumbled across this one and knew instantly that I was going to have to respond to it. I have had a past with Blockbuster personally, and back in the day I always felt it was the best thing ever. Blockbuster had every movie I ever needed and/or wanted to watch, and when I went one day after school to get a movie that I wanted to see and saw the doors closed for good I was hurt. It honestly destroyed me inside. I remember going home and asking my dad all of these questions like how and why it happened, and I just remember him having no answers for me what so ever.
After reading this post it is now clear to me what happened. It makes sense that Blockbuster would not have had the money needed to keep their doors open especially with all of the ways of seeing movies today. Just like some of the other posts in this blog it come down to a convenience thing, and it was just incredibly inconvenient that people would have to come all the way into the store, look around all of those movies in the store, wait in line to pay, and drive all the way home in order to enjoy a movie. After doing all of that I would be shocked if anyone was even still in the mood to watch a movie after all of that. Due to our progression in technology humans were able to come up with brilliant ideas like Neflix that would ultimately destroy Blockbuster. For one, Netflix is extremely convenient for anyone that wants to watch a movie because in a matter of seconds you can be streaming a movie from almost any device. Whether the device be a phone, a computer, a television, or a tablet or anything of that nature. Also, now people do not have to leave their homes in order to get a movie they want to watch. At the same time they get more variety, and never have to worry about the movie “not being in stock.” It used to be the worst feeling when you went all the way to the store only to find out the movie you wanted was just checked out and now out of stock. With things like Netflix you never have to worry about any of that, and the streaming is so clear and fast that it is almost like watching the movie in the theater before it even gets on DVD. I am not going to lie I still miss Blockbuster, but I think that is only because it played such a huge role in my past. I have recently started to use Netflix and it is honestly the best thing to ever happen to me. It is incredibly convenient, and at the same time it has such a wide variety to choose from that it is hard to not enjoy it. At the same time after actually using Netflix it is also easier for me to see why it put Blockbuster out of business so quickly. I am glad that technology allowed someone to make Netflix because without it I do not know what I would do in between classes every day.

The simple answer to what happen to Blockbuster was simply that it was the internet’s fault. Blockbuster during its time when it made a lot of money was when people were not able to watch movies on the internet. This has happen to many business because the internet has so many things that it can be used for that it has been the supplement for companies like Blockbuster. Technology has advanced so far throughout the last 30 years that we can rely on a few things to do many things for us. The new innovation that have been invented as of late have been revolved around multitasking. Not only can you get information for school on the internet you can also order a movie and music. This also leads to people procrastinating while using the internet because there is so many things to do at once that people tend to become lazy. This is something so foreign for people in the 20th century because everything back then had it’s own purpose and that was it. A company like Blockbuster it sold movies and nothing else. Companies today need to serve so many more things when it comes to technology.

A company like Netflix completely destroys a company like Blockbuster. The simple reason behind that fact is that Netflix is intergrated with the internet and Blockbuster is not. People can rent movies and stream movies with Netflix something that Blockbuster lacked. Streaming is something that is used constantly with not only movies, but music as well. Sometimes people do not want to rent a movie and just want to watch it once. They have that ability to do so with Netflix. If they want a movie to watch several times they can rent it and sent to their house.

It’s not that Blcokbuster was not a strong company is was that it could not evolve with the times. Then Companies that were with the times are the ones that stay on top. Netflix is something that is taking over the television now because Netflix has show’s that people want to watch and they can watch whenever they want to.

The failures of Blockbuster can be traced to several different elements, including the mentioned distribution tactics and the lack of initiative to absorb competitors like Netflix. But a change in culture and technology is an underrated reason why Blockbuster went out of business. As a child, my family and I had a Friday night routine we followed to a tee. We went to a local pizza joint and enjoyed dinner with other regulars. After dinner concluded we walked next door to Blockbuster, where we rented a recently released movie we were anxious to watch. The next morning, we would pick up bagels from the store next to the pizza shop and return the movie. This kind of lifestyle seems to be vanishing in America’s society.

People would rather order take-out than be sociable. Individuals would rather watch a series from the comfort of their own couches. Americans don’t seem to have the free time to travel from destination to destination accomplishing goals anymore, especially when they can accomplish this all through using modern technology. In this fast-paced world, Blockbuster’s old way of business was doomed. While my family presently orders takeout pizza and watches an HBO series on our Apple TV, Blockbuster was erased from the family’s routine and replaced with something more comfortable, easier, and quicker.

I remember when I was a kid, every other Friday my mom would take me down to the blockbuster down the street and she would let me pick out a DVD and I she let me get a piece of junk candy. It’s amazing to think my children one day will never have that experience because video stores are long gone. It’s crazy how fast things becomes a “thing of the past”. Technology is moving faster than the speed of light and we can barely keep up with it. Back then, there were mom and pop video stores and I could think of two they were near my house back then off the top of my head. The video rental industry was worth over six billion dollars and clearly contributed to the lives of many people for a good 25 some years. All of the mom-and-pop shops obviously gave into the corporate offers, making the competition even slimmer. The industry did well for the time being, but it eventually fell short to the disruption of new technology. When Netflix took over, there was no turning back for big business video stores now. Netflix, even to this day, is still extremely popular and a huge part of our culture. Now, with the invention of Smart TVs, there are so many more things that you can access through your television. Even if you do not have a Smart TV, you can still make your TV a Smart TV by using an amazon fire stick or a Roku stick. I have one and I use it on a daily basis. I also have access to my amazon prime account with my Roku stick, so I am able to access my ShowTime app so I can watch shows that I wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else for free. There are so many advantages, especially theft being out of the equation as well. There are so many other perks that you can add on so companies definitely make off well with that. The different upgrades and packages make it ideal for everyone to have. After Netflix completely destroyed the industry, streaming became a lot more popular and the way to go. I don’t think that there has ever been something more convenient and often inexpensive. It’s a scary world with technology now, and you never know where you should invest your dollars, because they’re always discovering new things and there are always going to be new trends. Technology causes a lot of disruptions in all areas of the economy and that’s why it’s important as a business-oriented individual to always be keen to the changes in the market. Technology plays a large role on the consumer to buyer relationship and it has the capability to grow that relationship stronger, or break it in one second. Consumers will always be on the lookout for the “next big thing”, so if you have the means and the opportunities accessible to you, it’s definitely an entrepreneurs world out there.

I remember 15 years ago, every Friday night I would drive to Blockbuster with my two older sisters and rent two movies and get a pack of Sour Patch Kids. I looked forward to it all week and It was what everyone did back then. My freshman year of college I did a research project on Netflix for my Business Enterprise class. Learning how Reed Hasting started the company and how it grew into something so large amazes me. I did not know that Blockbuster had declined to purchase Netflix – I bet they regret that decision. It is astonishing how fast Netflix evolved and adapted to the future of the movie rental industry. The company went from mailing DVDs to using the internet. In my research paper I remember Hastings saying that he always had the idea of streaming movies and shows over the internet. It was faster and more convenient for consumers. Hastings was a very smart businessman and used the future of technology to create a whole new meaning of “movie rental”. It is intriguing to see how the DVD rental industry evolved so quickly. Then it was blockbuster and now it is Netflix. Now, I cannot imagine driving to a store to rent a movie and having to return it in a week. Netflix makes it so easy and simple it is a no brainer to pay the $8 a month. Also, Netflix even has their own series that have been a huge hit, “House of Cards”, “Orange Is The New Black”, “Ozark”. In my opinion they are one of the most innovative companies.

Reading through the comments quickly I couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia as everyone talked about going down to Blockbuster when they were young. One thing I noticed while reading those stories is everyone’s stories were pretty much the same. That’s not to detract from what they had to say because I have those exact same stories as well. I had a Blockbuster a mile away from where I lived, and as a kid I used to walk down to it at least twice a week. I’ll always remember going through the video game section of that Blockbuster super excited about renting some C-list indie game for my PS2. Even now the decaying Blockbuster sign still hangs above an empty building that’s laid dormant since the store closed down however many years ago. That’s all well and good but it made me think about the way nostalgia effects our perception of the current day.
I remember Blockbuster fondly just as everyone does and I remember being crushed when my parents had to explain to me that we could never go to Blockbuster. My first thought as an eight or nine year old was “how am I supposed to get video games and movies now”? Little did I know there was a good reason Blockbuster died, it died because something way better had replaced it. That of course was Netflix and while it took my family and me a long time to get the streaming service provided by Netflix we got the DVD rental service almost right away. What blew me away upon reflection was how quickly I moved on from Blockbuster to Netflix, I mean after all those years of going to the same store at first with my parents and then with my friends you’d think that I would remember those experiences often since they transpired often but the truth is I haven’t thought about Blockbuster in years save for reading this article. This is where nostalgia is so interesting to me, there’s no reason I should remember Blockbuster fondly because the reality of the situation is I went from one thing to something that was infinitely better in that I no longer had to go anywhere to get my DVD’s or video games. While the aspect of never having to walk that mile to Blockbuster ever again didn’t help my health situation it did contribute greatly to my convenience as a consumer. So reading everyone in the comments everyone talking about their fond memories of Blockbuster really highlighted for me the bizarre way in which nostalgia effects our memories and biases. For example right now I can watch about 99% of all movie or TV shows made in the last 20 years in about a two second interval and I’m reminiscing about how great Blockbuster was. So what all this really begs the question for me is how are we going to remember Netflix or any other modern streaming services when the next big advancement takes over the industry?